Shresta Hebbar Amsadi
23rd November 2020
Taking a large step to save the environment, the UK plans on banning petrol diesel cars by 2030 (Source: Livemint)
United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 18 November announced that Britain would ban new petrol and diesel vehicles as a part of a 10-year point plan for a 'green industrial revolution'.
The government has set aside 12 billion pounds for the 10-point plan, which it claims will create up to 250,000 jobs. “Although this year has taken a very different path to the one we expected, the UK is looking to the future and seizing the opportunity to build greener,” said Johnson. “The recovery of our planet and our economies must go hand in hand.”
The UK is set to host the annual UN climate conference next year, and Boris Johnson says that he is developing an ambitious plan for a green industrial revolution. He believes that every country in the world needs to take action to secure the future of their children and their grandchildren.
For the plan to work, the country's national infrastructure will need to be improved to support electric vehicles. The investment plan includes the expenditure of 1.3 billion pounds to install charge points all over the country and in everyone's home, street so that it is more convenient to charge their car wherever they go. This would lead to the UK being the first one of the G7 countries to decarbonise road transport.
Five hundred million pounds will also be going towards the mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries and awards of 582 million will be in place for those who buy low emission vehicles and promote people to make the change.
The other areas of focus would be to make cycling and walking more attractive ways of travel while making homes, schools and hospitals greener, warmer and more energy efficient. There are also plans to plant 30,000 hectares of trees a year and develop world-class technology to remove 10 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030.
Five hundred twenty-five million pounds will be allocated to help develop large and smaller-scale nuclear plants, and 500 million pounds will be earmarked for trialling houses to use hydrogen as their primary gas for cooking, heating etc.
The other vital part of the 10-year plan is the allocation of 5.2 billion pounds to strengthen the coastal defence of England by 2027.
(Source: India.com, BBC, Moneycontrol, Hindustan Times)
Edited by: Suditi Jha